The present invention generally relates to wireless communication networks, and particularly relates to reducing the connection management signaling needed between base stations and mobile switching centers in cdma2000 networks for packet data calls.
Wireless communication networks eventually will move to an all-IP configuration and the current distinctions between “circuit-switched” and “packet-switched” call types will disappear. For the foreseeable future, however, many types of wireless communication networks include entities primarily associated with supporting “legacy” circuit-switched services, and entities primarily associated with supporting packet-switched services. Some network entities are involved in supporting both types of services and these entities can represent processing “bottlenecks” with respect to supporting the developing range of packet data services.
For example, wireless networks based on the IS-95 CDMA standards used mobile switching centers to support certain connection management functions, including mobility management and mobile station authentication functions. Call setup and call handoff in such networks required connection management signaling between base stations and mobile switching centers, both for authenticating the mobile stations and for managing resource assignments at the base stations.
By carrying forward at least some of that call processing functionality into the cdma2000 standards, the mobile switching center necessarily is involved in supporting certain aspects of packet data call processing despite its origins in circuit-switched call processing. For example, packet data call setup typically requires connection management signaling between the base station and the mobile switching center for mobile station authentication and registration. The mobile switching center's involvement continues after call setup, in particular in association with performing re-authentication of the mobile stations as needed as they transition between the dormant and active packet data states.
One disadvantage of its involvement in managing the packet data connection state transitions is that such transitions occur frequently for typical packet data applications such as web browsing, etc. The supporting connection management signaling between the base stations and the mobile switching center and the attendant re-authentication and control processing at the mobile switching center places a potentially significant processing burden on the mobile switching center.